Ryder Reviews (Prompts)
by KeJae
Summary: This is the collection of prompts from the main story "Ryders versus The Antagonist," as well as where any prompts from the additional story "Ryder Records (Excerpts)" will be stored. Disclaimers and credits are the same as on the main story.
1. Chapter 1

**Hospital Reunions**

* * *

Quinis - Ohh... does the hospital part where Nathan finds out about his real family and his real family finds out what really happened to him feature in the excerpts?

This prompt is set between "Ryder versus The Antagonist" chapters 1 and 2.

(I currently plan to post the excerpts and completed prompts in the order of occurrence based on the layout of "Ryders versus The Antagonist.")

* * *

Moriah Camden:

After being separated from my family for so long, it was a surprise when my nephew gave us the strangest call the other day. He said that Nate was alive and that he had arranged for a DNA test to prove it. The test was positive that he was my little Nate, all grown up.

Passing the phone to my husband, I simply sat down where I stood and thought through the implications of what that meant. My baby wasn't dead! For years I could have been struggling to tell the difference between my own twins. I could have been watching two little boys play games and heard two sets of laughter filling the home. There wouldn't have been that look of sadness and longing in Neal's eyes as he watched his cousins play and laugh with their twins and siblings. My husband would have had two boys to teach instead of teaching Neal while wishing that Nate was there to challenge him. There were so many things that would have been different if he had been here, where he belonged.

As my mind got past the knowledge that my boy was alive, I found myself filled with questions. Was he okay, did he know about us, what had his life been like, what happened to separate him from us, and all of those questions that any concerned mother would wonder under the circumstances.

Seeking my husband, I realized that he was still on the phone with Nick and I couldn't wait to get a chance to ask some more questions of my own.

Noticing the look on my face through his shock, Nathan passed me the phone and gave me the chance to ask some of my questions while he took some time to absorb the information.

The answers that I received hurt. Nate had been tortured nearly to death after being confused for someone else in an operation (likely his brother). He was unconscious and wouldn't be able to know about us for a while yet, but he was aware that something had happened to put him with a family that wasn't his own. Nick assured me that his theory was a switch at birth for a doctor to avoid investigations into his actions and that I could ask Nate the rest of my questions once he was well enough to handle the information.

Now as I stand pacing the waiting room, it is so hard not to be able to be there for him.

The doctors agree that the shock of waking up to a stranger claiming to be his mother would be too much for him at the moment.

So, while I wait, I continue to alternate between pacing the floor and sitting while watching what occurs around me.

One son is simply on the other side of glass and surrounded by machines. I watch as the nurses come and go, the doctors make visits, Nick keeps us up to date, and the machines show steady signs of life that are reassuring in their own ways.

My other son continues to pace the floor as well, but with a more agitated air. I can tell that he is feeling guilty for something that he couldn't have helped. Yes, he is the agent that Nate was confused for and the reason that the villains hurt him, but it wasn't his fault. Neal had no idea that his brother was alive and therefore had no idea that they needed to be taking precautions to avoid being confused for each other in the field. At the end of each of his rounds, he stops and stares at his brother for a few moments. I think he is still adjusting to the knowledge that his brother isn't dead after all and elated that he will get the chance to do all of those twins games that he missed out on growing up…

Nathan on the other hand, is feeling a mixture of anger at the doctor and guilt towards himself. As the father of Nate, he feels that it was his responsibility to look closer into details when his perfectly healthy son was declared dead. I feel the same, but we had looked into the circumstances at the time and the team hadn't found anything to state any particular wrong action on the part of our doctor… no one thought to check into the other doctors.

* * *

Nathan Camden:

We had the first contact from our family the other day. It had been years since my wife's family had reached out to us for fear of endangering the children if we drew attention to us and risked the Antagonist finding us again.

I found my wife standing with the phone clutched in her white fingers and a shocked expression on her face. My first fear was that something had happened to Neal. When she passed me the phone and sat on the floor, that fear intensified.

Shaking with nerves, I accepted the phone only to be surprised at who spoke on the other end. Instead of the FBI supervisor that I was expecting, he identified himself as being my nephew Nicholas Neal. My fear for Neal was relieved, but then it switched to wondering what was going on that would cause the family to reach out to us again after so long.

My curiosity was answered soon enough, and it wasn't all good news. It turned out that the call was concerning my son, but the one that we thought was dead. I was shocked to learn that Nate was alive with a DNA test to prove it.

All these years, if only we had looked deeper, searched harder, insisted on another investigation…. Anything that could have brought our son to us then, instead of having to wait eighteen years to discover that we missed out on so much lost time. For a moment, his words took a back seat behind the previous news that Nate was alive and severely injured.

When I looked back to see my wife standing with a look that said she was now ready to ask a series of questions, I passed her the phone back so that I could take some time to collect my thoughts.

Time became a blur after that as we collected enough things to last for an extended stay and rushed to rejoin our family. We stayed with Nick's parents and spent a lot of time catching up with their children while we waited for the chance to get to know our son.

The visits to the hospital were filled with pacing the halls, simply standing and watching, or sitting and waiting. Needless to say, it was difficult to be at the hospital, but impossible to stay away.

* * *

Neal Thomas Camden:

It started as a routine FBI investigation and ended up changing my life forever.

I was sitting at my desk working on reports when I received the first call that informed me that a DEA agent has been nearly killed after being confused for an FBI agent involved with our current investigation. When I asked who he had been mixed up with, I was surprised to find that he had been confused for me.

My mind roamed back to the day that my parents had told me that I had a twin brother, a twin that had died the day we were born for no known reason. He had been healthy, and then he was dead. It hurt me as my mind thought… what if this agent was my twin brother still alive after all? The thought was quickly shoved aside as my brother was dead and anything else was simply wishful thinking that hurt. Still, the thought had entered my head and an element of hope had entered my heart that was so hard to deal with and yet impossible to get rid of.

When I didn't get another call about the subject, I thought that the situation had been resolved and the agent had simply had a general similarity of dark hair and blue eyes. Then I got a visit that I didn't expect and that cause my heart to soar.

Nick was led into my office by my supervisor and informed me that he had news of the agent that had been confused for me.

"Neal, I don't want to get you excited to drop your hopes but you need to know this. He is severely injured and not completely out of the woods yet, but he is alive. I found Nate and it was another newborn that he was switched with the day you were born. Before you ask if I am sure, he is a mirror image of you and I had a DNA test taken to confirm before I called your parents. Since you were here and already familiar with the other agent part, I felt that it would be better if I showed up and told you myself."

It was a good thing that I was already sitting down as the sight of my cousin and the information about my twin was too much to remain standing. Providing the information on the hospital, it turned out that my brother, the Nicholas household, and I weren't all that far apart, despite all of the separations that had occurred.

My uncle was waiting in another part of my office (my twelve year old cousin might be a doctor but he wasn't travelling alone). He agreed to give me a ride to the hospital and we set off.

That first time that I saw my brother had me falling straight down with my uncle and cousin catching me. They helped me over to a chair where I could watch him the machines that told me Nate was still alive. He looked awful as he was deathly pale and covered with injuries. The machines had a steady rhythm to them that told me was okay for now, but it would be sometime before he would be recovered enough for us to tell him the truth.

Talking to my cousin and the agents who had worked with my brother gave me a good idea of what to expect, but I still really wanted to meet him for myself.

Then my parents joined me. The waiting game became a full family event and the first of many reunions to come.

* * *

Nathan Daniel Camden:

It was like a dream come true… in a twisted sense.

I had grown up in an environment where I was the ugly duckling who didn't fit in with my parents and wondered what was wrong with me. Now, I realized that I was the swan chick that was placed in the wrong nest and raised amongst the ducks. Not to say that the Bennetts are ducks while the Camdens are swans, but the childhood story is a good way to describe how I am feeling.

For a while now, I have been wondering who I was, what my family was like, did they know that I was missing, and so many other questions that I was unsure if I would ever receive all of the answers.

Then, I got a blessing in disguise when I was mistaken for my brother and nearly tortured to death.

The situation turned to a blessing in disguise when my cousin turned out to be my doctor by coincidence. Nick was able to recognize the family features as he worked on me and after I was settled into a room he went to work trying to figure the situation out.

Digging through the old hospital records he found an anomaly that showed an old description of a newborn baby changing a bit too quickly to be natural. With the new idea in his head that maybe I was switched with someone else, he started digging into that boys files. Comparing my files with the files of Neal Bennett, he found the data matched and that I had in fact been switched with him, according to the files.

With solid proof that there was a likely switch, Nick was able to arrange for a legal DNA check to make certain that I was in fact Nathan Daniel Camden. When that came back as positive it was time to start the legal river of efforts to right the wrong.

When I woke up, Nick went through the steps of making sure that I was okay. After a while in the hospital, I recovered enough to handle the news that he had to deliver, the news that my identity had been discovered and confirmed while I slept.

One morning Nick walked into my room and told me that we needed to talk about why he had switched to consulting on my case instead of being my primary physician. At my surprise, he said that he was my cousin so he was unable to be my primary physician without breaking the hospital's rules.

Stuttering in shock I asked "C-cousin?"

Approaching the topic with direct but caring means, he answered. "Yes, and it has been confirmed by DNA. There are a lot of things in this file that may be shocking to you, but I have spent a lot of time researching and verifying it to be able to tell you who you are and a viable approximation as to what happened.

As he settled down in a seat next to me, I simply stared at him with a mixture of curiosity and incredulity.

"To start with, my name is Nicholas Neal Ryder. You are my fist cousin on my mother's side. Our family is predominantly involved in government work and we have a lot of enemies. Several years ago those enemies started hurting the children of the family and caused us to separate and hide under new identities.

Keeping that in mind, I want to go into the details of who you are and how I know that before I give you the file.

I was initially your physician who worked on you when you came in. Your features are recognizable as being a Camden and when I asked your fellow agents your identity was a blank spot. After you were settled into your room, I went to work going back into the hospital records for you and the boy you grew up as. Looking at the details, it showed that Bennett was born ill while you were born healthy. Based on the fact that you were declared dead, I would assume that Bennett died and his doctored feared a search into his records for the possibility of malpractice. In order to avoid the issue, it is likely that he switched you for Bennett. The records show your weights and various details being logged and when your measurements lined up accurately between the two identities while keeping your measurements in one identity didn't match, I had proof of a likely switch. Following the line of evidence, a DNA test was done to test you against me, as I am the handiest relative. It was positive that you were my family member which left the next issue to be which one.

To explain that last statement, I have to go into who you are. Your mother is Moriah and your father is Nathan Camden. The part that is going to be especially surprising is that you have a younger brother… an identical twin named Neal Thomas. You are the older of two brothers and your name is Nathan Daniel Camden.

Even though I haven't seen your brother in several years, you look like an older version of him. I would assume that he is the FBI agent that you were mixed up with on your operation. He has been notified and is waiting with your parents. When you have had some time to come to terms with all of this, they are only a call away.

Also, I should probably warn you… twins run in the family and I have three identical brothers. You'll only have to worry about two pulling your leg though as the youngest was taken when we were toddlers."

I simply stared at him for a few moments while he sat by quietly watching me absorb the information with a subtle excitement. As my mind wrapped around the information, I requested to see the file in order to see pictures and run through the information again with my own eyes.

Reading the data, it quickly became clear that my real family was honorable with a history of doing the right thing no matter the cost. Also, it was a relief to find that academics, athletics, and artistic abilities were normal, which meant that I wouldn't be an odd duck out with traits that didn't fit in with those around me.

The more the details settled in and the more I knew that I could trust this family I had lost, the more my smile grew and the tension left. I was home… and I couldn't wait to get to know the family that had been taken from me for so long!

* * *

In conclusion.

The doctor who had hidden the death and switched out the newborns faced his investigation after an eighteen year delay. It turned out that he had done nothing wrong in the case of the care of Neal Bennett, but he feared that an investigation would uncover his illicit activities that he had committed. A decade plus sentence awaited him behind bars with no chance of parole.

There was a clear conscience for the Camden doctor who had been questioning what had caused the mystery for eighteen years. He had become somewhat paranoid about the health and care of the babies that he delivered with the hope of never having to tell the parents such news of a healthy baby dying, again. Despite having retired, he was delighted when two identical twins took advantage of some down time to stop by and tell him what had transpired.

As expected the bad guys that had confused the twins were caught and faced charges for their crimes with the new additions of kidnapping and attempted murder of a Federal Agent.

The agents who had worked with the twins were amused and congratulatory for the twins who were united after so long apart and such a close call with Nate's near death. For Nate's coworkers, they were relieved to see him discovering his identity, family, and receiving closure about his past. Neal's coworkers were happy to know that his brother turned out to be alive after all. (Nate hadn't been a free flowing topic of conversation with Neal due to his feelings about missing out on opportunities with his brother. In fact, there were coworkers who didn't even know that he had had a twin).

All in all it was a happy ending for those involved and justice long overdue for the culprit who caused the separations.


	2. Chapter 2

**Out of the Wood Works**

* * *

I had thought about writing this, but per Quinis' request I decided to make it a prompt and get it written. This is from the perspectives of the lost ones in the order of Peter, El, and Will.

* * *

My family has been helping me deal with everything and slowly acclimating me to the life that I was taken from mixed with the life I ended up leading. Here and there family members have been popping up and introducing themselves. Of course Joe, Chuck, Bryce, Casey, and the rest who I had already met were the first ones to show themselves for who they really are. After that Nichole (El's sister), our parents, and other relatives started showing up alone or in small groups to slowly reintroduce us to the family. Some of the family we met had been around when we were taken while others were new having been married or born during our absence. As each member spends time getting to know us there are a few points that occur. They tell us who they are, their relations to us, some stories from before or since we were taken, and some of their part in how everything connects before they get us talking about our lives (in my case as much as I can remember or understand). It is a long slow process, but a little here and a little there my past is coming back to me and others are helping me to make sense of it. Still, I can't help but feel that enough time has passed and I just want to get my history back so that I can enjoy my present and go on into my future.

I had no idea that my oddest introduction would be a lunch that was going to be so informative about Shield, or that he would turn out to be related to me… somehow.

When lunch time came around, Shield came up to my office and asked me if I was ready to go.

Looking up from my files, "Where?" I was confused as we were doing paperwork for the day so there was no particular destination that I could think of. Then my stomach rumbled to remind about the time of day. A quick glance at my watch confirmed and in essence answered my following question. "Lunch?"

He simply grinned at me, "I have a restaurant in mind. Grab your jacket and let's go, my treat." And with that he was turning and heading down the stairs while I hurried to put my current folder away and grab my jacket.

As we rode the elevator down, I watched him to see if he was going to give anything away as to why he suddenly decided to take me out to lunch.

"Someone would like to meet you, without meeting you, so I'm arranging it without telling you who the person is" was his ambiguous answer before he turned and gave me a look full of humor, mischief, and with a hint of nervousness.

I wondered what he could be nervous about, and apparently that question was written all over my face because he answered it.

Shifting nervously, "I'm also going to reveal something of myself in the process Peter. That is why I am also nervous."

Nodding, I wondered what he could be revealing about himself. Was he the person who wanted to meet me without meeting me? And if he was, how was that even possible? I suspected that he might be Nick, but no matter how sure I was, there was always doubt in the back of my mind that maybe I was looking too hard for him. With a shake of my head, I decided that I was only confusing myself so I might as well wait and see what happened with this lunch 'not meeting.'

Shield seemed to understand that I had decided to wait and see what happened. He simply directed me that I was going to be driving before telling me the restaurant and its location.

In response to the look that I threw in his direction, "I said that I was treating for lunch, I didn't say that I was driving to it." He grinned at me and I simply rolled my eyes like I would have done with Neal. Thinking of Neal brought a pang of guilt. I still had no idea what had happened to him or if he was ever coming back.

Driving to the restaurant, my mood had changed and there was a sad tinge to it as I was missing my partner.

Shield seemed to read me again and responded to my change in mood. "First, Neal is just fine. Second, he is still around but he is playing a role closer to himself, so I get to take his place for a little while. There are a lot of secrets as to who he actually is, but that is another of those things that will be revealed to you later, in the meanwhile we are here so let's focus on lunch."

I couldn't help but relax at his words. It seemed like he knew Neal and if he said that he was okay and working towards telling me more of who he is… who was I to complain?

As we walked inside, there was a waitress waiting to set us with a table. While she directed us where to go, I couldn't help but notice here appearance. She was tall and slender with long, dark, brown hair, but more remarkable was her eyes. They were a startling shade of blue somewhere between Neal's baby blue and Shield's aquatic blue. It was like she was the feminine mixture of the two and I found myself watching her for more similarities.

Over the course of the meal I found that when she smiled she had that megawatt grin, as she spoke she was very charming, and as she handled our meal she proved herself to be very intelligent and capable. For some reason, I pictured her as the female version of what Neal would be like if he was running a con where he had to perform as a waiter. Then, when she left the check for Shield, she also handed me an origami elephant that stood. I looked up at Shield, who ignored me while he paid the bill. Before I could ask him the questions on my mind, he simply got up and walked away leaving me hurrying to catch up… again.

Back in the car, he stopped me from starting the ignition, so I waited for him to talk.

"She is my sister, and I am sure that you noticed how she resembles both myself and Neal. That is because I am related to Neal… as well as you. When Jo said that we would be popping out of the woodworks, he meant that we would be coming out all over the place as well as some rather unexpected places." And with that, he simple sat back in his seat and left me to my thoughts.

After a few minutes I asked, "So Neal is around, he is just playing himself instead of his role as Neal Caffrey?" I wanted confirmation on my understanding.

Grinning, Shield answered. "Yes and no. First, he is another of those people who is a lot closer than you think. Second, he is playing a role closer to himself, not himself… yet."

Nodding, I accepted that he was another Nick who was right in front of me. There was the hint of a thought, was he Nick? Before the idea passed from my head as the unknown and I proceeded to ask my second question. "And you're related to me as well as Neal… that would make you both Ryders?"

Again, he smiled and answered. "Yes and no. I am a Ryder, but he isn't necessarily and that is as far as I am going to go into what his real name is." Then he had a look that said he meant it so I gave up and drove back to the office.

* * *

I knew that Jo had warned me, but it was still unexpected when my family started popping out everywhere.

For me, the most surprising encounter was when Zach decided to get me off of the street and into a side alley to introduce himself. Did he simply walk up to me and ask to speak to me in private… no! Instead, that little turkey cousin of mine, decided to steal my purse and run into the alley with it!

Was it wise of me to pursue the criminal… probably not. But really, I thought that it was Neal due to the figure, dark hair, and the manner in which he stole my purse with a playful "come and get me" kind of laugh.

When I turned into the alley, I felt the apprehension grow as I realized that the person wasn't Neal after all. The man standing in front of me had lighter hair with a lot more curls, and his eyes… they were an aquatic blue with tinges of green which made them beautiful.

As I stood staring at him, I couldn't move, couldn't make a noise… couldn't do anything but stare. It was as if he seemed familiar… like I knew him from a long time ago…

"Hello Elizabeth, didn't Peter teach you that it was a bad idea to chase criminals into back alleys… even if they are simply your cousin trying to say hi after a very long time…" He was grinning at me.

I felt the answering smile slip onto my face, but I was still looking calculatingly at him, trying to discern who he was. With his reference to him being a cousin, I was trying to place which one he could possibly be.

"You don't remember me." Sigh. "I was little more than a toddler when you were taken so I presume that I have changed a lot over the years."

Okay, so he was one of the younger cousins… the youngest cousins were the quads when I was taken… "You're one of the quads aren't you?"

With a flourish and a bow he confirmed my guess. "Yes… now can you guess which one?" He winked mischievously and smiled at me.

Hmm, he has a playful attitude, and he is relaxed with me… there is a youthful quality to him... "Zach?"

He gave another flourish and bow combo. "How did you guess?"

Unsure of the answer, I responded anyway. "I don't know… I have a vague memory of you being the more relaxed, playful, generally the younger of the quads… and you just seemed to fit those qualities."

Chuckling, he was obviously amused by my vague reasoning, regardless of how accurate it was. "So it was more intuitive than thought out? It might have been more fun if you had to struggle a little bit… it would have meant that our switching games might go off like they used too. But if you can figure out which one I am so easily on the first meeting, our games might not be as fun as they were when we were all children."

My reproving look only made him smile more.

"Hey, I'm not complaining… stop looking at me like I am." He gave me a reproving look of his own before continuing. "Seriously. I'm glad that you remember me enough to intuitively recognize me after I have literally grown up in your absence. Granted, you didn't recognize me all the other times that I have been around… but you did the first time that I intended you to recognize me." He couldn't help but throw in the mischievous jab to keep me from feeling bad.

It didn't work. I couldn't help but feel sad that the lovable little guy that I used to play with grew up right in front of me without me realizing it… the more I thought about it the more the tears welled up in my eyes. After a few moments they brimmed over and ran down my face.

With a sad expression, Zach moved forward and put both of his hands on either side of my face. As he stared at me for a moment, he used his thumbs to wipe my tears away. Then he shifted his hands to my back as he pulled me towards him for a hug. While he stood holding me in the alley, he told me that it was okay. "It wasn't your fault that you were taken. You were simply the target in a manipulative endeavor to keep our family from causing trouble for their future goals. The same reason why Peter and Will were taken. No one blames you, we simply don't beat around the bush about the facts."

A few minutes of crying in my cousins arms and I was able to gain control of my emotions. As I calmed down, he let me step back, handed me a kerchief to blow my nose, and wipe away my tears. When I was finished with it, I offered it back to him. He put on a goofy face as he gingerly took it between his fingers like it was the most disgusting thing on the planet. Then he kept up the act as he carefully put it in his pocket with a look that said he was going to have to go home and take a shower as quickly as possible. Laughing at him, I couldn't help but lightly smack his arm with, "Zach! Seriously, it's not like it's going to kill you. If it bugs you that much give it back and I'll wash it first!"

He responded with a look that said I was asking too much. In a whiny voice, with a disgusted tone and expression, he responded. "But that would mean that I would have to touch it in order to dig it back out again!"

I was laughing even harder now and he couldn't help his own smile from braking his charade. The more I laughed, the more he continued to smile until he joined me. Then my eyes caught onto my purse dangling from his arm like a misplaced fashion statement and I exploded. In no time I was laughing so hard that tears were once again falling down my face and I was about to sit down in the middle of the alley… or I was going to fall down in a breathless mess. Noticing how I was about to go down, Zach sat my purse down and gallantly used his jacket to give me a place to sit that would be clean. While I sat laughing until I struggled to breath, he simply stood by leaning against the wall and laughed right along with me.

Eventually, I calmed down again, but there was this feeling like this was going to be one of those private jokes that Zach and I would be laughing at for a long time. Still, despite how enjoyable the time had been, I did have a meeting, and I was going to be late if I didn't get going.

Zach saw that I seemed to be calming down with a destination to get too. "You have a client to meet?"

Taking a deep breath, I made sure I had the oxygen to answer. "As unexpected and enjoyable as this has been, yes, I do have a meeting. And if I don't get going, I'm going to be late."

Extending his hand, Zach helped me up and handed me my purse. With a quick movement, he had his jacket picked up and draped over his arm. "My car is only a few blocks away, if it is okay with you I'll give you a lift. That would help make up for the time I took, and it would also give you a few minutes to get calmed down and ready to meet your client."

Smiling, I enjoyed how chivalrous and gallant Zach was. "You don't have to do all that Zach, and you didn't take my time. I give it with pleasure."

With a laugh and a humored glint in his eye. "Thank you for your time. And yes, I am not going to allow you to be late on my account regardless of how much 'trouble' you perceive it to be. It is not trouble and it would be my pleasure to spend a few more minutes in your company being in your service."

I couldn't help give him a look that said he was going overboard with the pleasantries even though I knew that he was playfully expressing his actual feelings. "You're welcome, and thank you, I would be glad to accept your service of giving me a lift."

Continuing with the gallantry, Zach extended an arm and walked me out of the alley and back to his car. While we walked, we continued to talk and work on catching up.

When we got to his car, I was surprised to see a large pretty blue Hummer. It seemed oddly fitting for him, it was great for adventure and had a playful twist to it.

By the time he dropped me off for my meeting, I was relaxed, had my cousin's contact information, and I was looking forward to more family coming back into the picture.

* * *

My brother had warned me… and I was still surprised when someone tapped my shoulder in line at a coffee shop. When I turned around, I was greeted by the sight of three of my cousins standing behind me.

Elli stood grinning, while Devon smiled behind her with Clara strapped to him. "Hi Will, it's been a long time since we left. I'm your cousin Ellie and to introduce you, this is my husband Devon and our daughter Clara. We are in the city for the party that Peter and Elizabeth are going to be throwing later in the week and when I recognized you standing in front of me, I couldn't resist getting your attention."

She was giddy to be personally getting in touch with the family! I couldn't help but smile and shift my position in order to give her a hug. I was laughing as I responded. "Hi, I guess Jo was right when he warned that the family was going to be popping out of the oddest places… though I have to admit that randomly meeting in a coffee shop isn't the most unusual place to encounter others." Then I turned to meet Devon and shook his hand due to Clara. "It's nice to meet you. I hope my brothers haven't messed with you too much, they haven't given me a break yet! I think they are eager to make up for lost time."

Devon and Elli both laughed in response.

Ellie explained what they had done so far, "We actually haven't met them yet. When we got to mom's place no one was there, so we decided to see some of the city." Devon looked like he was ready to accept the challenge. "I look forward to trying to see if I can tell the difference… it sounds like an awesome game to grow up playing."

"I bet it was, I just regret that life took me in a direction that I missed out on that. Still, I have gotten to be involved in the fun a few times. Just a heads up, Nick has a background at being a master of disguise so he likes to make the game even harder if he can… so if it seems too easy at first, he is just warming up!"

They both had amused looks that told me that they still felt they could be up to the challenge.

With a shrug of my shoulders, "Don't say that I didn't warn you," and I grinned mischievously at them. Then it was my turn to place my order so our conversation dropped for a few minutes.

Once we had place our orders, we moved to the other side of the counter to pay before joining those loitering about waiting for their orders to be filled. After our drinks and midmorning snacks were collected, we moved to get a table in the corner booth. It was a spacious table and it provided ample room for them to set Clara and her things while we enjoyed our food.

While we sat there, we continued to talk and catch up.

Eventually, I needed to get back to the office and they decided to continue with their tour of the city. We parted after exchanging contact information and with the promise that they would come over to my place for dinner with whomever they were hanging out with. It was my turn to host a family get together after all.


	3. Chapter 3

**Questions and Answers**

* * *

This is a compilation of reader questions and the answers that go with them (no one has specified any particular request so I simply used the questions that came my way). Also, this is where I have paid more attention to how the characters may have reacted to certain aspects of the story.

* * *

_Standing as a collective group the Caffrey Five stood together and bowed to the stunned audience. " If you wouldn't mind we would like to have Peter, Will, and Ben join us on stage so that we can have our two honorary Caffreys who played the role in one-time events and our little Caffrey point five just because he would make the Caffrey Collection complete." Being pushed up to the stage I joined the others as a group of stools were brought out and we were requested to sit in a line with Nate holding little Ben for a question and answer session._

* * *

At first the entire assembly simply stood there and stared at the oddly collected group of Caffreys spread out a crossed the improvised stage. It was hard to believe that so many people had played the role, and even harder to believe that so many FBI agents had missed it!

Although the initial reaction of the room was silence, it exploded with noise after a few moments. Suddenly it was like being in school again as everyone was putting their hands up in an effort to ensure that their question was voiced and answered.

With amused and expectant expressions, the Caffrey Five began selecting people from the crowd.

Diana was the first one chosen as she had an expression that said someone was going to pay for tricking her. "So you mean to say that Nick was one of the people who played Neal Caffrey, and he simply stood by as Shield while we wondered and worried about Caffrey?"

Since the question was directed at him, Nick was automatically nominated to answer. With an expression that looked like something he might use to explain to a troop of soldiers the purpose of the dangerous mission that they had just barely survived, "Yes Dianna, I did that. And although you may now feel obligated to break both of my arms for my actions, there are valid reasons for what I did. If I had come out too soon and shown my real identity, Peter, Elizabeth, and Will would have faced the very real threat of getting graphically killed. When that threat had passed, I still had my cover to keep in the event of any potential residual dangers. Finally, when there were no impeding threats to force me to keep my secret, there were still a few reasons. One reason is that I didn't want to simply jump out and say that I had been there all along, instead I chose to show who I was and gradually introduced those involved in my life the roles that I had been playing. Then secondly, I wanted to play some of the old games that we had played as children. Is that a little childish? Perhaps, but sue me if it is wrong to want to relive some of my better memories of childhood. Had Charlie not been killed when you were a child and you were given the chance to do something special with him, be it a hand jive or simply share in a private joke, wouldn't you want to indulge in that chance to reconnect to the special moments in your life with the person who was integral to those experiences, regardless of how childish you might appear doing a juvenile hand jive with an old friend?"

By the time he had finished his response, the fire of anger had gone out of Diana's eyes. She nodded in understanding, but there was still a glance exchanged with Nick that said he had used his free-be, and he had better not cross her again or she just might break his arms after all.

As several hands had dropped, it appeared that others had been concerned with his actions as well. Still, there were a few more remarks to be made about the convenience, annoyance, or amusement of Neal turning out to be several agents. The statements included the anonymously shouted "Good, that means we don't have to worry about chasing you down for your 'alleged' crimes!" And the muttered remark of an agent, whose neighbor felt the need to repeat it for the whole room, "No wonder he was always borrowing my stapler, with so many people playing the role, they must not have been able to keep track of their own!"

Then Peter laughed from his location and got a sheepish expression as he shifted his position awkwardly. "That reminds me… I still have the box of you guys' stuff at my place."

His statement was met with a resounding laugh from the crowd as that brought to mind the pranks that had been played. That started a new direction as several wanted to resolve some unanswered questions about how he had managed to handle the pranks the way that he had.

"How did you know who had done what on the crime scene of your desk?"

Nick laughed. "First, there is a camera pointed directly at my desk, so… Then there were the supplies used, you seriously forgot that you have to sign for those? Finally, you also seemed to have forgotten that I have worked with you for years. I know who the practical jokers are."

There were some sheepishly mutter comments about how those involved hadn't thought of that, then there were some other questions raised. "Well I guess that explains how you got through the retinal and finger print scans, but that doesn't tell us how you managed to play the computer jokes back on us."

"I'll let my brother Bryce explain that one." And Nick directed the question on with a glance.

"Ha, well, that would mean to say that he grew up with me playing computer pranks so he learned how to retaliate young." With that simple explanation, he directed a mischievous glance back towards Nick who responded with a look that said he wondered what his poor computer would have to endure next.

Shaking his head, Nick directed the next person to ask their question.

An apprehensive hand was raised by an agent who wasn't so into the fun as some of the others had been. "Now that you have been unleashed… are we to expect more of these games and practical jokes?"

All five of the original Caffreys beamed in assurance that yes, there would be much more than ever before now that it was expected. Will simply chuckled at the horrified expression the agent had in response, while Peter simply shook his head with a soft, pitying smile. Little Ben had his own enthusiastic answer. "I like games and jokes!"

Several "I'm sure you do" responses greeted him and he was pleased to have been involved.

Then a curious voice piped up from someone in the back. "How many people with the name 'Neal' are involved in this?"

Since he was the only one with the actual first name fitting this description, Neal took this question. "Well, of the Caffrey Five I am the only one specifically named Neal. Nick has the middle name of Neal and Nate spent the first few years of his life going by the name. As for the rest of our family, the Ryders have their grandfather and great-grandfather Neal. It is an annoying family tradition to name our kids after family members and Neal has been a family name for several generations."

Blake posed the next question. "What dictated who played Caffrey when?" There was a mix of smiles and interested expressions from the rest of the crowd as they look expectantly towards the stage.

Unexpectedly, the main group on the stage turned somber instead of being amused.

Nate responded first. "We brought two people in to play the role after I was nearly killed. So multi-player roles wasn't initially intended, but after discovering that there were two of us, it just kind of happened."

Zach decided to fill in how the rest of the team came into playing the role. "As they got the role going, then Nick took it international. Eventually Nick brought protecting the Lost Ones into the operation."

Running off of what his younger brother had said, Bryce had the next stage of the progression. "Since there was a lot to do, the rest of us came into the operations in order to help ensure their safety. It made a means of ensuring that someone was always available."

Rolling his eyes, Nick decided to answer the original question. "We decided who was to play Caffrey based on two points. The first was availability, if someone was between undercover roles or cases that needed immediate attention, then they were candidates to play the role. Secondly, the candidates were selected based on the skills that were perceived might be necessary."

This prompted Jones to ask another question, "Who played Caffrey, playing Nick, on the day that the cover was blown in the raid against the Antagonist?"

On the stage, all fingers pointed to Nick. "Yes, it was me who was in the closet. I am Nick so the correct order was Nick, playing Caffrey, playing Nick. Also, since I am a doctor and I anticipated the trouble, I made sure that it was me who was going to be there to better ensure that Peter would be as protected as possible."

Jones raised his hand and hurried to get his next question out while the current subject was related. "How did all those men get tranqued while you were locked in the closet taking care of Peter?"

The group all looked at each other with some confusion, then Nick decided to make an attempt to answer the question. "Well… I don't really know. Based on what I have heard, I would say that the lights sound like Uncle Steven, but he is supposedly dead. Then again, there are those of us who have died before only to be standing here today… so who knows. Maybe he isn't dead and he just hasn't notified the rest of us yet."

Everyone went silent so Nick decided to explain in more detail.

"Our Uncle Steven has the code name of Orion. He designed some particularly special computer systems and that brought on a lot of unwanted attention that caused him to have to run from said attention. In the process of running, he often utilized faking his death… and since I am a member of the family who has been killed and revived a few times, we know that it is possible that if he actually died, that he may have been revived and he just hasn't told the rest of us… for some reason."

No one knew how to respond to this statement, so the conversation came to a screeching halt while everyone simply stood trying to decide what to do next. Then a movement started in the back and slowly the person walking through the crowd got close enough to become visible… Mozzie was about to have his say.

Having been one of the closest people to Neal Caffrey and a conspiracy theorist (who had to have a lot more to rant on now) he was given the floor as everyone was curious as to what he had to say. In complete silence, the entire room stepped back and left an open space around him providing him with the center of attention while he confronted those on the stage.

He looked like he was addressing a court about an injustice that had been served. "First, I would like to know if any of it was true, or if the entire Neal Caffrey persona was a lie." (In translation, a part of him wanted to know if he was really friends with the agents, or if they had merely used him to keep their cover).

Nate started the answer. "Yes Mozzie, there were real aspects to the role. First, we all consider you a friend, although I'll admit that some are probably closer to you than others as we have varying interests and personalities. Second, yes, the story of growing up in St. Louis and the relationship to Ellen… all of that was real with two exceptions. I was not really Neal Bennett, and I went a different direction when I turned eighteen."

Mozzie's shoulders eased back a little bit and he nodded his head. Then he fired off his next question. "So you really weren't using me to practice your skills at conning, it was simply the fact of two or more people playing the same role and the differences that I noticed were when you had switched places on me?"

"Yes" Neal said, while nodding. "You were the only person who noticed our quarky inconsistencies. There were times when I have to admit that you had us worried you might figure us out and our cover would be blown."

Smirking, Mozzie looked down to hide his expression for a moment. It appeared he was still working through his angry or annoyed reactions and he wasn't ready to express amusement. When he was ready, he stepped forwards and handed the Caffrey Five a stack of pictures. Then he simply stood back and watched the looks of surprise on their faces.

Nate seemed to be the most surprised as he apparently had no idea that Mozz had caught him breaking cover on camera. "When… when did you get these?"

With another smirk of amused superiority, Mozzie replied. "It was after I had met you in the prison. When I left, I decided to stake out the place and get a feel for how things worked in order to come up with a good escape plan… I never figured that I would catch you in the ultimate escape. Were you two married at that time?"

Still displaying his surprised expression, Nate absently nodded. "Yes, yes we were married at the time. Why didn't you say or do anything with these photos until now?"

Deciding to simply shrug, Mozzie was rather noncommittal in his response. "I had questions, but they were put aside as it wasn't the time to storm back into the prison and demand answers. By the time you were out, there was the concern of the FBI's involvement and the pictures remained set aside with their corresponding questions for another day."

This time, it was a Caffrey who had the question. Nate asked Mozzie what all of the Caffreys seemed to be wondering. "Are you mad? After all, we are quit the government conspiracy and we lied to you about who we were as a whole the entire time."

Here, Mozzie surprised many. He simply bowed with a dramatic flair and announced, "I have been well and truly had! I must say, since I am a con mentor for you, I feel rather like a master who is now able to show off his protégé. Not only did you do a good job conning the world, but you even managed to fool me into actually believing that there was only one of you. I feel rather honored to be amongst your early victims. By the way, if your bosses were ever to give you the go ahead, I believe that we could pull of the Mount Everest of swindles with the simplicity of eye witness accounts verifying your presence elsewhere." With his finish, he sported a mischievous smirk and a flash of humor at the Caffreys.

For a moment there was surprised quiet, then the Caffreys all busted up laughing. Peter particularly wagged a finger at him and said, "No, no 'Mount Everest of swindles' Mozzie. Remember, you're God-family and the son of agents too. You aren't supposed to be committing crimes anymore… I hope."

With a look of disappointment, Mozzie simply muttered, "There is a reason that Nate is my favorite Caffrey and not you suit."

Peter looked surprised while the rest of the audience erupted into laughter. Then there was a series of people calling out who their favorite Caffreys were. Once the choices had been made, it was demanded that they specify why the preferred one Caffrey over another.

Diana specified that she like Neal best "… for the irony that he is an FBI Fraud agent…" and that she liked his art work.

Jones got along best with Zach for their shared relations to the Navy and generally easy going nature.

Peter didn't say a word, instead he simply shared a look with Nick that said exactly who was his favorite Caffrey.

Chuck didn't say anything either. He simply pulled a toy gun from behind his back and shot Bryce square between the eyes with a Nerf dart.

Eventually giving in to the pressure, Mozzie conceded that he liked Nate the best "Because he was the most real of the lot. He had actually lived the life portrayed to be Neal's background." And despite his lack of belief in the existence of it, Mozzie still appreciated the honesty in that about Nate.

As the question and answer session came to an end, the conversations began to drift to the results of it and the interest was more directed to reflecting on the topic rather than indulging in the conversation.


	4. Chapter 4

**Mother Hen**

* * *

Quinis - 'Mother hen.' Does Nick re-earn that nickname when he goes to work for the FBI as himself? This is supposed to be from Diana's point of view.

* * *

It was the first case that Nick worked with us as himself… completely himself. There were no masks in either the figurative or literal sense, he was using his name around the office, and he openly displayed his family relationships to Peter and his brothers. After all of the secrets and deceptions that had happened recently, it was a relief to have him so open with us.

That was how we learned another aspect of his personality, Nick is extremely protective to the point of having a nickname with every team he works with! This is how we joined in on the old joke.

* * *

Ware Wylie was a slippery suspect. He stood tall at six and a half feet while remaining slim as a pole. With a light complexion, red hair, and green eyes, he displayed his Irish-English heritage with pride. At first sight, he seemed like a friendly businessman which gave him good people skills with the general public, but if you were an agent, you got to meet the other side. He had an Irish temper that made him dangerous and a keen sense to know who was his enemy (agent) and who wasn't (criminal… sometimes).

He ran his organization with an iron fist and enjoyed collecting people from the nations of his heritage to fulfill his needed roles. His muscle was strong armed by Irish rebels while his forgeries were created by England's finest. When Wylie chose a job, it was one of International importance and ranged from forged papers to a fake Prada bags for smugglers. And woe to anyone foolish enough to try to cross them. The entire group were very protective of the source of their income and many who tried to outwit them were never seen again.

Nick had a number of undercover roles into the organization. He played a low level muscle in Ireland, a backup forger in England, and in New York he was a fence with a British partner. That was where we came in.

* * *

When Nick walked into the office, everyone went silent. _Which one was this? What kind of crazy case were we going to have to work now? _And worse, _what kind of pranks do we have to endure while he is here?_

Per his usual entrance into the office, he smirked at our expressions, threw his hat on his desk (we kept it empty for the twins when they worked with us), and walked up to Peter's office.

Those of us who remained in the office below exchanged a look that was part curious and part foreboding before getting back to work.

Eventually, Jones and I were called up to discuss what we were going to do. It still seemed weird for us to see Nick do the double finger point as an agent, but it was something that we were getting used to.

Walking into the conference room, Nick introduced himself and said that he was going to be the only twin that we worked with on this case… for the time being anyway. As he continued to bring us up to date, he said that he wanted our team to be small, but our support was going to be a large group combing both of our agencies. The reason for the unusual grouping was the danger associated with the case.

With Wylie being so particular and good at discovering undercover agents, the plan was to keep the number of agents in the field to a minimum with the support group large just in case things went bad.

After he went over who was going to be involved, he began to fill us in with the information about what we were going to do. Being able to pull a British accent well enough to fool another person, I was obviously nominated to play the role of the British counterpart. Jones and Peter were going to play more minor background roles in order to fill in the backgrounds for Nick and me. While Nick was going to continue to perform his role as a fence.

Once we finished going over the details of the case, we had some time to kill. When Nick left for the evening, the rest of us stayed behind and began to plan. The idea was for us to pull off the prank for a change, even though we intended to wait until the case was done.

* * *

The next morning Jones and I were the first two in. We began getting things going while the rest of our office slowly trickled in. Later, Peter and Nick walked into the office with their coffees in hand and smiles on their faces. Whatever they had been discussing, it appeared to be rather funny. With a curious look, I tried to get clued into the joke but all I received was a look that said they would tell me later.

It was time for the day to begin so we grouped into the conference room again and began setting up the plans for the day.

This was going to be my first meet with the gang so Nick kept drilling me as to what my role was, he would pull surprise maneuvers to make sure that I was familiar with our characters well enough to handle twists in the plot, and he critiqued me to make sure that I could visually and audibly pass for my role.

At first, I took his particularity in stride, but after two hours of this… I was done! "Seriously Nick! I have played British roles, gone undercover into highly dangerous situations, and you know this! So why are you being so particular about my role when you know full well that I can do it?"

Looking me straight in the eye, he answered. "If I didn't know that you could do this I wouldn't even have you in this conference room, yet alone taking one of the lead roles in this operation. As for why I keep drilling you, these guys have a higher sense than usual for 'smelling out an agent' and there is no way that I want them to catch wind of who and what you really are."

That took the sting out, but I still wanted to rebel like a teenaged child from an overbearing parent. So, the slightly snarky phrase, "Thanks Mom!" kind of slipped out. To my surprise, he took that in stride and practically ignored it, almost like he expected that phrase to be uttered at some point, with his only indication of hearing being a slight smile.

The rest of our preparation went over well and in no time Nick and I were heading out for our meeting.

* * *

Later that evening, we returned to the office and it was time to close up our paperwork. While I sat and filled out my reports, I couldn't help but reflect on the day.

The meet was set at a public, but not closely monitored, local coffee house. We simply walked in, ordered coffee, and approached the table with Wylie and his representative before being introduced and entreated to sit down. Jones had played our barista while Peter simply mingle with the other patrons. Everything went smoothly and I was now an excepted fence with Wylie's organization.

Nick and I played our parts as professionals with friendly relations so that we could be accepted as a team at work, yet also accepted as a team in the social circle. I think that it was Nick's goal to ensure that there would be no discomfort in he and I being seen entering and exiting together so that he could remain close to me at all times, just in case.

Come to think of it, we didn't need him to personally open the door for us on this operation. We only needed to be able to pass Wylie's heavy scrutiny. So why did Nick have to set things up so that he would be so heavily involved, 'create the door and walk us through' so to speak? Then it dawned on me… he did it by design to ensure that we completed the case safely! Of all the… that man can be such a mother hen when he is being himself! Now I want to do something to commemorate his protectiveness… perhaps integrate that into our prank?

Back to the work at hand, Nick and Peter are starting to laugh again and I am reminded that they have an unshared joke. Clearing my throat, I gain there attention and repeat my look from this morning.

This time I was rewarded with Peter sheepishly saying that he had been sharing his knowledge of Prada bag forgeries the night before and Nick had spent the entire evening teasing him about it. Just thinking about it had Nick smirking and Peter giving him a dirty look. I get the feeling that Peter will be teased on his purse knowledge for some time to come now that Nick is family and doesn't have to hold back!

Watching them, another thought comes to mind about how much things have changed. Before we learned about Neal being Nick, we were on our guard about him getting into trouble and there was always plenty of paperwork to look forward to with a civilian in the field. Now, the paperwork is only on agency cooperation and the trouble we have to worry about is more like Nick getting shot… being too protective of us, or playing jokes on us. Somehow, coming out of all of those deceptions made the life that we now live so much easier, if not a little quieter. When people talked about Neal's ability to make the room light up, they weren't lying, and now that he isn't here all of the time, it can get rather subdued. Still, he does enjoy randomly dropping in to torment us and make sure that we never miss him too much.

Last week, he simply walked into the office to give me a coffee with extra sugar and expresso so that I bounced my way through our monthly meeting. The week before, we were visited by an agent with a 'forged painting' that we quickly deduced to be Nick with one of his new original works. And so it goes, he may miss a week here, come in two days in a row there, all the while he keeps us on our toes trying to watch out for him and his brothers pulling their own brand of practical jokes. But, despite it all, those of us who are close to him wouldn't miss it for the world as it has brought a new level of friendship and comradery to our relationships with him and the family.

* * *

At the end of the week, it is time for us to put the clincher move on Wylie and his gang. Once again, Nick has completed most of the work and we are mostly just helping him to complete the job.

* * *

On the day of our final meeting and subsequent raid, Nick is particularly protective. He went through the plan with us over a dozen times, he has drilled and critiqued me more than that first day, and he has taken so many back up precautions that it is practically ensured that none of us could even get a paper cut if we tried!

Despite my plans to wait until our prank, I find the words slipping out of my mouth again. "You're such a mother hen Nick!"

At first, I received a surprised blink… and a smile. Then he quipped "That's me!" with a wink.

While we continued our preparations, I was glad to see that he had backed off a little bit, but I could also tell that he was amused and not upset. I was curious why the moniker seemed to be so amusing, but that had to be satisfied later as we had a case to finish.

* * *

The final meeting was a bit more complicated than the first meeting had been.

Nick and I met Wylie at his warehouse for an exchange of goods. Nick had masked Peter and Jones to be our muscle, while not drawing attention to any of their prior roles, which left him, and I simply standing around making agreements and directing our guys to do our bidding.

When the time was right, Nick stepped forwards and in a lightning flash he changed from a pleasant businessman, into a dangerous agent. In a matter of mere moments the men were disarmed and joining there goods on the road to custody.

Really, Nick had it timed so well that there wasn't any time to think or really react. We simply played our parts of the plan and he took care of the rest! Wylie and his gang had about as much reaction time as we did. One moment they had just finished a great deal, and the next their minds were catching up to the fact that they were busted!

Fortunately the case was solved, and it was another win for the good guys!

* * *

Back at the office, it was time to finish up our final paperwork and submit our reports to our respective agencies. This was always interesting because we also had to submit at least one copy to the other agency too… and that was our in. There was a new person down in filing and she was happy to be a participant in our prank.

When she came up for our reports (a rare but possible occurrence) she accepted every file without question, but Nick's. On his, she nitpicked everything down to his hand writing and continued to be unmovable in her apparent dislike for him. After a few minutes of this, he was still trying to sooth the situation with her, when he began to realize that the office was smoothing their laughter to a point of nearly bursting. Seeing as he was had, Nick stepped up and walked around his desk. He bowed to us like a stage performer, turned and took her hand with another bow to her personally, and he congratulated her on her performance before admitting himself to have been had.

The office erupted in cheers and Neal directed our filing clerk to bow with him as it was her performance that had tricked him.

After a few minutes, he reminded us that we "…also had to turn in reports to representatives from his agency…" before he left his sentence hanging.

We had won this time, but the air was charged with the feeling that we might be getting a version of "turnabout being fair play" in the future. Still, a win was worth the risk because there was no guarantee that we wouldn't face the prank in the future anyway.

Continuing on, we finished the paperwork and moved on to giving Nick our parting gift for the day. It was my idea (not knowing the history of the joke) to give Nick a picture of him presented as a mother hen while the rest of the team, that he had worked with, created our own personal little chicks under his protection.

Once again, Nick just smiled and laughed upon receiving the reference to the joke. Thanking us, he then took a digital picture of the image and saved it to his collection of cartoons. As he got his things together to leave, he promised to add it to his collection back at his loft before leaving with his parting words, "Welcome to the joke my little chicks." Finally, with a last mischievous look and a cheerful wave he disappeared into the elevator.

* * *

Happy Thanksgiving everyone :D


	5. Chapter 5

**The Reality of Play**

* * *

My sister wanted to see an addition that showed Chuck and Bryce/Nick playing Gotcha, and Peter walks in to see them playing. As he watches, Peter realizes that their play is sometimes real and while the play is amusing, the reality behind it scares him. Peter's perspective.

* * *

I had a question for Nick about my current case so I made my way over to his place. Since I had regained my God-brother, I enjoyed taking advantage of asking him questions in person and making excuses to work with the various members of my family.

Letting myself into his building, I locked the door behind me and made my way up to the main room. When the elevators doors opened, I found myself the spectator to a game of "Gotcha."

Chuck was bouncing around with Nick and they were using Nerf guns to fight.

As I watched, Chuck pulled a series of back flips mixed with twisting flips to cross the open ground of the central area before he dived behind the couch on the left side of the room.

Meanwhile, Nick fired from the kitchen as fast as his gun could reload and his shots followed Chuck in perfect movement a crossed the room. Nick was no longer able to get a clear shot at Chuck, so he pulled a leap up onto the counter and launched himself in a spinning flip before he landed down by the couch that Chuck was hiding behind.

Amused, I couldn't help but chuckle at their antics. The expressions on their faces were those of two cousins who were simply enjoying playing a game with an innocence common to childhood, but their skills depicted that the game was being played by two trained agents.

The sight brought up mixed feelings for me. To begin with, the innocence of their expressions reminded me of the days when we used to play as children. Granted I was practically a teenager when they were born, but I spent a great deal of time entertaining my young cousins. The main differences then were that the guns were squirt guns and there were no acrobatics to the game, but the fun and ease of play still remained. Finally, the reality behind the play hit me. They were both trained agents with license to kill, and they ended up in situations where they had to fight for their lives on a frequent basis. I found myself horrified at the thought of them in a situation where they were handling real guns and dodging real bullets. Images of them hurt kept flashing through my mind with Chuck being scared after he had been taken or the many times that Nick had been hurt.

Then another thought crossed my mind. What if they were in one of these situations for real and they had to kill someone? As I thought about it, I couldn't help but remember the few times where I had to shoot to kill. It was unpleasant and something that I would never forget. Hughes had made me see a Bureau shrink, but that only helped me deal with the reactions to what had happened, the situation would never change though, as once a life is taken it can never be returned.

The thoughts also brought another unwanted thought to my mind. Nick was also Neal. I don't know why the thought of Neal in a real world gun fight was as disturbing as the thought of Nick in one, if not more. The only reason that I could think of was because I pictured Neal as being a nonviolent con while Nick was raised with training on how to take care of himself and came from a background that made it likely for him to grow up to be an agent. Still, I remember the many times that Nick nearly died in front of me and I feel my heart clench up in horror while the idea of Neal getting hurt has me clenching in fear. I try to converge them as being the same person, but they just won't. No matter how hard I try I still see Nick as the kid I grew up with while Neal is my coworker that is like a brother. That is probably because Neal was played by five people and therefore hard to associate with just any one of them.

Shifting position for a way to help me dispel my unpleasant thoughts, I drew the attention of my cousins to my presence.

Simultaneously, they looked at each other and moved into action quickly. Running a crossed the space, Nick slid under a table while Chuck pulled a high flying vertical flip over the top, and they both came to a position where they were shielded in front of me while holding me at gun point.

Grinning at them, I played along. After identifying myself, I removed my weapon to cautiously leave it on a side table that was along the wall for guests to leave their things, then I endeavored to distract them with general conversation about why I was there while I subtly moved to grasp the remaining Nerf gun that was also on the table.

They allowed me the opportunity to grab the gun and only opened fire after I was equally armed.

It was like I was a teenager again as my old training came to me without thinking. I slid a crossed the floor to dodge the Nerf bullets before taking off past them into the main area of the room.

In quick pursuit, they turned around and followed me to a new place of cover.

As I ran, their munition tracked my movements closely and I found myself breathing heavily when I did manage to get to cover, due to the effort I had exerted to keep ahead of them. With a chuckle I added a new difference to the game since our childhood, they were a lot tougher to beat now than they were then!

Chuck asked me, "What's so funny Peter?"

Shouting, I responded before changing position. "Oh, I was just continuing to reflect on the changes since we used to play this as kids. You guys have gotten a lot harder to beat since then…"

Snickering they both answered. "That probably has to do with him having the Intersect." "And both us having had more training and experience."

"The Intersect is cheating, according to some members of the family you know…" I muttered to myself.

Pulling a ground roll, I moved from where I was located and fired off a few shots to cover my movements while I ran to new cover on the other side of the kitchen. In my peripheral, I watched the boys duck and dive for cover as I barely missed them. Grinning again, I was pleased that I could still provide a game for them, despite being older and out of practice for my gymnastic training.

Nick had a taunting comment for me, "I'm going to have to tell Nick to make you practice your gymnastics, as that was a bit slow old man."

Snorting I replied. "For one, I am not as old as I thought I was since my files had been doctored before. Second, I am still not old. Finally, I apparently made the wrong assumption thinking that you were Nick. Then again, I was working off of the theory that this is his place so I assumed that he would be the one here. Now that I know that you are not him, I do recognize that the table trick is characteristic of Bryce… am I right?"

Sounding like he would bow if it were safe, Bryce responded. "That you are Peter. I am Bryce and the sliding under the table trick is something that is characteristic to my fighting on the run style."

Shaking my head to myself, I reflect. I wonder if I will ever get used to having so many twins in my life again.

A creak to my left has me shifting positions with a run and a flip of my own.

They were sneaking up on me having decided to try to gang up on me for a bit when they found me standing by the elevator. Unfortunately for them, the creak in the floor wasn't familiar to Chuck, who accidently gave his position away.

Firing a shot, I hit him in the shoulder which disabled his use of that arm for the remainder of the game.

Keeping the game realistic, the graze that brushed by my arm from Bryce's gun made my arm weak for the rest of the game.

As Bryce moved in tangent with Chuck, I got the drop on Bryce and pulled off a kill shot that put him out of the game.

With just two players left, Chuck changed his strategy and decided to pull a direct attack from an unexpected location.

By the time I saw him coming, I only had time to dodge his first two shots with the third taking me out of the game.

Bowing as the winner, Chuck then raised his hands and started reciting the statistics for the game and naming himself "King of the Loft."

Since Nick wasn't going to be back for a bit, I decided that we could play another round… or two… while we waited for him.

Moving to our opposite corners to begin another round, I wondered if we would have grown up playing like this if we hadn't been split up.

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Thank you for reading, remember that I'll continue to take prompts for this series in the future if anyone has request so it will be left in an incomplete status. (Just keep them clean please).


	6. Chapter 6

**A Fairy Tale Romance**

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"_Once upon a time in the land of New York, there was a small village nestled in the country side. They were close enough to the great city of New York for commuting but remained in the nearby bountiful farmland._

_In this lovely little village their lived a family. At this time they had five sons who loved to play together and with their cousins. Four of those sons were identical quadruplets and their first birthday was coming up, so all of their family members were coming around to see them._

_When the day of the party came, the carriages came from miles around and collected at the local park. Many of us younger children were watched and played with by the older children while the adults formed a perimeter of protection around us._

_Both the young Squire Peter and the young Lady Elizabeth wished to play with me so I had all of the attention of two. I enjoyed their company and couldn't lavish them with enough attention in my pleasure._

_Since the Lady Elizabeth was still a child, she decided to play house. Squire Peter became her pretend husband and I was their child. As a young pre-teenage boy, Squire Peter didn't seem too thrilled with her choice of play, but he went along with it as directed. We spent the day with them supposedly going to work, keeping house, and tending their young son. The lady was rather enthusiastic while the squire came around to enjoy the play as well. By the end of the day the beginnings of a pattern seemed to have begun._

_You see, these two had been around each other their whole lives, but had never seemed to notice each other before. It took a day of playing house for them to find a common interest and after that, they tended to find a way to interact whenever they got the chance._

_Being their favorite excuse to play together, I got to watch the two of them bond._

_At first, they were just friends and when we had joint family gatherings they would both pay with me while talking about anything that they felt like sharing. Then Squire Peter got older and his interests changed, but he still had time for his young lady friend. Finally, Lady Elizabeth grew from a child into a young woman and their relationship matured as well._

_Squire Peter noticed that Elizabeth was becoming a young woman that was intelligent, caring, kind, sweet, beautiful, and she was wrapping him around her little finger without evening knowing it. Meanwhile, Lady Elizabeth noticed that the squire was tall, handsome, had a quiet intelligence, and was a strong reliable person that she could always depend on._

_That's when things got awkward. I remember this phase in their lives, but I didn't understand it at the time._

_Suddenly, the two of them had trouble talking to each other, they paid more attention to how they acted when the other was around, and they watched each other when the other wasn't looking. To my chagrin, I was no longer the focus of attention, but an excuse for them to interact or for a distraction when things got too awkward for their comfort._

_Then something horrible happened._

_The three of us had walked to a nearby ice cream shop for some treats, and on the return trip the two teens were flirting over my head. I was listening to their conversation, but I was more content to focus on my ice cream cone. Then our pleasant time was interrupted by screeching, a crash, and followed by pain. When the attack was over, the fair Lady Elizabeth had been taken while Squire Peter and I were left injured._

_Being in the village, a witness ran for the police while others moved to assist us. It didn't take long for an ambulance to arrive and we were rushed to the hospital with Squire Peter riding along with me. _

_At the hospital, everything happened in a blur. The routine was familiar so I allowed the doctors to do what was necessary as I waited to hear about Lady Elizabeth and Squire Peter._

_Once I was settled into my room, and after Squire Peter was taken care of, he came to stay by my side. For the entire duration of my hospital stay he kept me company and we tried not to dwell on the absence of Lady Elizabeth. When I feared for the fair lady, he would pale, but tell me that she would be alright "She had to be."_

_For a few years we missed Lady Elizabeth, but Squire Peter threw that extra focus at me again and we became very close._

_Then one night, Squire Peter was babysitting me when bad men attacked again. They broke through our castle's security and took us away. For some reason they wanted Peter to play a game, but he was unable to as he had been hurt. To protect my __Deus__Irmán__, I played in his stead. When I lost the challenge, they took Squire Peter away and left me behind. _

_This time, it was just me who missed them as they no longer remembered me. I did my best to watch over them and tried to interact with them as much as was possible with the danger._

_Many years later, I was visiting an art gallery when a robbery happened. Since I was a witness, Sir Peter questioned me. He had grown into a man and become trained. As a knight, it was his job to catch the bad men._

_Lady Elizabeth had also grown up and worked at the gallery. Since she was a witness too, Sir Peter questioned her as well._

_As the case proceeded, Sir Peter put Lady Elizabeth under surveillance. He wanted to know if anyone was courting her, or if she was available to approach._

_Neither of them remembered anything yet, but they both felt the old attraction in their hearts._

_Noticing the knight's efforts and shyness to come forward, the lady gave him a sign… literally._

_Assured that she was free and interested, the knight took courage to approach her and they began to court._

_For a few more years, I watched as they fell in love. By this time I was very good at secretly being in their lives so I played many roles. Sometimes I would play their server at a restaurant, other times I was the street vendor where Peter would buy her flowers, and yet other times I was simply a passerby as they went for a walk. I generally kept my distance, but I also got to be involved in minor ways._

_Eventually there came a special night. Sir Peter came into their favorite restaurant in advance and pulled me aside. My instructions were to seat them at a special table back in the corner where they could have privacy. It was to have flowers and candles to show that he was doing something romantic. Then after their meal, I was to serve them dessert with her ring displayed for him to propose. _

_His plan was simple with a sweetness that came from the heart, exactly what she would appreciate most. Still, I felt the need to add a few minor details of my own._

_When they arrived, I escorted them to a secluded table as directed. As the lady perceived the details of the arranged flowers and candles, she noticed that they were her favorites and delighted in the personal touches._

_While they enjoyed their meal and conversed, the other patrons kept the restaurant occupied, but also strangely kept the noise level quiet enough that our couple could hear the romantic music playing in the background._

_Finally, it came time for me to bring out the dessert. _

_Since the room was full of family and we had paid to have our way for the evening, we arranged for the lights to dim slowly over the course of the evening so that the setting was romantic. The rest of the room went silent as I placed the covered dishes before them and made my retreat._

_With soft romantic jazz in the background, the dim lighting hiding the rest of the world, the candles and flowers filling their corner with her favorite scents, her favorite Italian Dessert hidden beneath a lid, and the man she loved sitting acrossed from her... Things were going great for our lady, but they were about to get better. As she lifted the lid, Sir Peter started into his speech and by the time she was really looking, she noticed the ring nestled in the purple flower about the same time that he asked "Will you marry me?"_

_Squealing in excitement, she cried as she said "Yes. Yes, I'll marry you!"_

_For the rest of the time that they were there, we began to slowly brighten the lights back up and the family members posing as patrons slowly left. Due to the danger, we couldn't have our couple questioning why we were taking so much effort for a random engagement, so we had to keep them from thinking about it too much._

_When Sir Peter and Lady Elizabeth were finished, they left for the night and continued on with other plans._

_Those of us who remained behind made it like we were never there. The staff was paid for keeping the place open late, we cleared the decorations that we had purchased, and we dispersed like we didn't know each other._

_For the months following, the family took up roles in their wedding plans… Let's just say that we are part of why their wedding exploded from the small even that they had intended for to what it became._

_Personally, I played the assistant for their wedding photographer so I got to follow them around through the entire process of planning and the actually wedding day. Sir Peter was nervous, but also very excited, so I teased him until he forgot why he was nervous. Lady Elizabeth was also nervous, because the wedding was so much bigger than she had wanted, so I asked her questions about Peter to remind her that he was what mattered and that the day was just going to be another special day in their marriage. Then, when I finally got to watch them exchange their vows, I was reminded of the day that they played house with me. Now they were going to go on with their lives to play house for real._

_Once they had left for their honeymoon, life went back to the normal interactions with them only it was almost easier with them being together so much. _

_The day came when our plan was advancing enough that Sir Peter was going to be in more danger. That meant that I got to work with him at the FBI and be his partner every day. For the first time in years, I was finally actively involved in their lives again. _

_After a few more years it was finally safe enough to take down the bad men who had taken them. With a series of actions we removed the danger from Lady Elizabeth and Sir Peter, we arrested their captors, and took down the evil empire._

_Finally free, our sir and lady found their memories again and have been returned to the family. For the last several months we have been working to fill them in on what they missed and sharing stories of just how involved we have been in their lives._

_Then they had the happy announcement that you were expected. _

_For the first trimester they tried to keep you a secret and worked really hard to ensure the surprise. Of course, we knew anyway because we have watched them closely for years and noticed when they started acting differently._

_With your impending arrival I got to be involved with helping Sir Peter on his self appointed list of tasks to fortify your castle, Neal and I painted your nursery, and I didn't even have to sneak around to be a participant in preparing for you. _

_Now you're here. You'll grow up surrounded by family and we'll always be here for you and your parents, no matter what. That's a promise."_

* * *

Looking down at the sleeping babe in his arms, Nick switched to speaking to the people hiding in the hall. "He doesn't understand the words yet, but I thought you would enjoy the story."

"You're a lot harder to hide from now than when you were a kid." Peter teased as he and Elizabeth entered the room.

Nick just rolled his eyes as he passed little Neal to Elizabeth.

Accepting her son, Elizabeth moved to lay him down in his crib. "Do you actually remember all of that?"

Shrugging, Nick answered. "Vaguely. Some of it is clearer looking back as an adult and some of it has become more detailed from others inputting what they remember."

Bidding their sleeping son goodnight, Peter and Elizabeth followed Nick into the hall. Once they were downstairs they talked to Nick while he collected his belongings.

"So you're crediting yourself as our practice son?" Elizabeth enjoyed teasing Neal while picturing Peter forced to play house.

Turning it back at her, Nick teased. "No, you credited me as your practice son… apparently you knew young who you were going to marry too."

Laughing, Elizabeth could see Peter's embarrassment.

"Don't you dare tell the office anything about me playing house, Nick!" He didn't want to imagine how much teasing he would get for that one.

With his eyes glinting evilly, Nick pretended to ponder that idea.

Shaking his head, Peter glared at him threateningly. "Nick…" His tone was that paternal/big brother signal that Nick was crossing a line.

"Don't worry, I'm just messing with you." Nick enjoyed getting a rise out of Peter.

Catching him in a headlock, Peter ruffled Nick's hair until it was a mess.

Smiling at their antics, Elizabeth told Nick good night and was heading up to get ready for bed when he stopped her.

"Before you head up El there is an envelope on top of my bag. You'll understand it now that I have told you the story." Nick was still smiling from his few moments of happily tussling with Peter.

After El headed upstairs with the envelope in hand, Peter couldn't help but turn serious. "I still hate that you had to go through so much and I couldn't be there to help you."

Giving him a hug, Nick knew it was something that would always be a sorrow for Peter. He had gotten to a point where he was usually happy with life and how it had turned out, but occasionally those missed times would catch up to him and he would be sad.

"Thanks Nick, I'm glad that I at least get to have you around now." He calmed down a bit and tried to relax again.

"Like I told Neal… I'm here no matter what and that's a promise." He would do everything he could to keep that promise to both of them. If he couldn't be with them in person then he would keep them in his thoughts while residing in their hearts and minds.

Peter knew there could be problems to keeping that, but Nick had proven himself creative at overcoming problems in the past. "You always have done your best to be with us. Don't forget though, we are here for you and happy to help you too." Feeling relaxed enough, he released Nick from the hug.

"Anytime Peter, anytime." Nick re-collected his things to head home.

Walking him to the door, Peter made arrangements for Nick to come and babysit the next night as Elizabeth had an event she wanted Peter to attend.

Agreeing to be back, Nick told Peter good night and headed out while Peter locked up behind him.

While Nick was driving home, Peter and Elizabeth settled in for the night before going through the envelope. To their surprise, it contained the pictures of their engagement.

Going through the pictures, they watched as their meal progressed, the lights dimmed, and the candles burned down. Then when they got to the actual proposal they watched both of their perspectives as Peter said his speech and Elizabeth noticed the ring. After they got through the pictures containing them there was still more to see. True to Nick's story, their family was photographed as the crowd of patrons filling the restaurant. Flipping the pictures over they discovered the messages and signatures from those pictured on the front. The gift was something to treasure.

Settling in to sleep for the night, there was one thought that unanimously crossed all three of their minds. For a time, they seemed like star crossed lovers, but Peter and Elizabeth truly had a fairy tale romance.

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Deus Irmán - God Brother

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Thank you everyone for reading, reviewing, and leaving kudos :D

I think this chapter started at work, but I couldn't resist telling such a tale so I hope that you enjoyed it ;) If anyone has any requests, my post starting next week is open for recommendations. Please pick from the list of completed stories on my profile page and either PM me or leave it in a review :D


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